


looking for a cure

by noahsenpai



Category: Free!
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, M/M, Sharing a Bed, Sickfic, Tickling, Travel, holy shit lemme say y'all, i'd put a heart here in the tags but it didn't show up the last time i tried xD, i'm so happy that you guys are enjoying my writing, it really makes me happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25908874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noahsenpai/pseuds/noahsenpai
Summary: rei wants nagisa to stay warm while he's displaying symptoms of the common cold.
Relationships: Hazuki Nagisa/Ryuugazaki Rei
Kudos: 28





	looking for a cure

The sound of yet another sneeze echoed bounced across the walls of the hotel room.

Nagisa sniffed and wiped at his nose, which had begun dribbling a little bit. For the past couple of days, his nasal cavities had begun to run dry, creating a natural drip down the back of his throat. This tended to happen to him around this time of year; he figured it was just allergies or the common cold, but due to his small frame and rather weak immune system, if not treated early, these symptoms could easily turn into a bad cold or the flu.

Rei, who was sitting at the desk in the corner scrolling through nearby restaurants that were open for dinner takeout, turned his head towards the blonde. He had been listening to him cough and sneeze pretty much all day; yesterday he said that he felt fine, but he seemed worse today. He didn’t believe him one bit.

“Nagisa-kun, are you alright?”

Nagisa blinked, his gaze turning upwards at the sound of the bluenette’s voice. “Y-yeah, it’s just cold symptoms,” he responded. “This tends to happen around this time of year, but I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Rei narrowed his eyes, not sure if he believed him. Then something caught his attention. The blonde was laying splayed out on top of his bed, in nothing more than a t-shirt and a pair of lounge shorts. It was no wonder Nagisa was getting sick; he always stayed dressed to accommodate the warm weather outside, but he didn’t do anything to stay warm in their rather chilly hotel room.

Rei stood up and walked over to his suitcase, pulling up a pair of fuzzy blue socks that he hadn’t worn yet. He then approached Nagisa and sat at the edge of his bed.

“You should probably put these on,” he advised the blonde. “Either that or put some long pants on. You can get sick easily if you get too cold. And you look rather chilly.”

“I’m not cold, don’t worry,” Nagisa assured him. “I’ll be fine like this, you don-“ He was interrupted by another sneeze and flurry of coughs. It was as if the blood drained from Rei’s face; Nagisa definitely was _not_ going to get better if he didn’t warm up. Rei knew what he had to do.

“Put the socks on,” he ordered the blonde. “If you get sick, you’ll pull the group behind. I want to explore the rest of Los Angeles with the three days we have left.”

“But I’m not cold,” Nagisa protested in an almost whiny voice. “My feet will get hot if I put those on.”

“Then take them off when they get hot. But they’ll help you stay warm so you’ll heal faster.” Rei stood up and straddled the end side of the bed, leaning over Nagisa’s legs. “Don’t make me force you to put these on.”

“I said I’m fine,” Nagisa protested. “You don’t have to fawn over me.”

The frustration that Rei was holding inside his chest seemed to instantaneously rush up his neck into his head. Nagisa was so damn _stubborn_ sometimes.

“Alright. You asked for this, then.”

“Wait—“ Nagisa had no time to protest before Rei reached out and took a hold of one of his ankles. The blonde yelped and squirmed, desperately attempting to pull his leg away, but Rei’s iron grip made it so he could barely move any more than an inch.

“Rei-chan, _no, don’t_!” Nagisa cried.

Rei blinked, surprised that the blonde put on his begging voice so early. Then it hit him. The only time Nagisa ever talked like this was whenever Rei was threatening to tickle him. He didn’t get that idea until now; Nagisa must have made that connection in his mind, due to how quickly Rei had reached out for his ankle. Rei smirked. Now he knew what he had to do.

“I’ll give you one more chance,” Rei said. “You put the socks on, or I put them on for you. And if I have to put them on for you, I’ll tickle your feet.”

Nagisa gasped and tried to pull his leg away again, and Rei could tell just by his movements how desperate he was becoming to get away. “Y-you wouldn’t!”

“Try me,” Rei responded, taking a hold of Nagisa’s other leg and pulling him down to the end of the bed.

“R-Rei-chan, stop!” Nagisa cried, unable to keep the laughter out of his voice.

Rei smirked. “I’m not even tickling you yet,” he commented. Nagisa’s sensitivity never ceased to amuse him; it was no secret to anyone who knew him that the blonde was extremely ticklish. The day when Rei discovered the blonde’s sensitivity was honestly the greatest day ever, and he figured that if he used it to his advantage, he could essentially get Nagisa to do whatever he wanted him to.

Except he didn’t want to do it too much, because he didn’t want Nagisa to become upset at him.

Rei smirked, running through an attack plan in his mind. He grabbed one of the socks, taking hold of one of Nagisa’s feet with both hands. The blonde seemed to relax as Rei lowered his foot down and pulled the sock closer; it was likely that he was thinking that the bluenette was just going to put his socks on for him.

But he was wrong. Oh so wrong. Because the moment he waited for Nagisa to calm down, he struck, nearly at full-force.

Nagisa let out a scream of laughter when two fingers began expertly scribbling along the bottom of his bare foot. He began to twist and writhe, desperately attempting to free his ankle from Rei’s grip as the bubbly, hiccupy giggles poured from his lips like a broken dam. Why did he have to be so ticklish? Especially down there, which was so ridiculously hard to defend?

“ _IYAAA! REI-CHAHAHAHAN STAHAP!!!!_ ” Nagisa cried, feeling the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. It had only been like, ten seconds, and he was already gasping for breath, feeling the stomach cramps and pangs in his sides threatening to unleash themselves at any moment.

Curse his body for being so hypersensitive.

Nagisa was barely conscious as he felt himself being bowled over so he was lying on his stomach, and a light weight pressed down over his hips. The loudest _scream_ he had ever made in his life, a sound that he was certain would reach the ears of every other hotel resident, burst from his lungs as he felt the nimble fingers dancing over his sides, wiggling under his white shirt. Screeches of laughter poured from thin lips as Rei mercilessly tickled up and down his sides. As he flopped about like a fish out of water, he let out another bloodcurdling scream as soon as Rei’s fingertips dug into the fleshy undersides of his arms. He squirmed and kicked, battering his heels against Rei’s back as a scream followed each and every gasp of breath.

“ _REI-CHAHAHAHANICAN’TBREHEHEHEATHE!!!_ ” Nagisa howled, screaming in laughter when Rei dug into his ribs. “ _STOPITI’MGONNAPEE!!!_ ”

Then there was a sudden sensation in the back of his throat, as if the tickling managed to manifest itself in places that Rei couldn’t reach. Nagisa’s chest was seized by another coughing fit, and Rei took that as a sign to stop. Worry coursed throughout his veins; had he gone too far this time? He was having so much fun and Nagisa was just so cute that he had completely forgotten that he wasn’t feeling well.

“Nagisa-kun?” Rei murmured. “Are you okay? Did I go too far?”

As soon as the blonde could speak again, he shook his head. “N-no, I’m fine,” he responded, his voice raw. It was hard to tell whether it was caused by the screaming and laughing or by the coughing fit. Or both. Regardless, it made Rei feel really bad. He had clearly pushed his limits, especially that Nagisa was probably getting sick.

Rei climbed off of Nagisa’s back and snuggled into his side, pulling him close and pressing a gentle kiss to the top of his head. He raked through the curly blonde locks, enjoying how soft they felt under his fingertips. He pressed himself against Nagisa’s back, sharing his warmth in a hope that it would help to relieve his symptoms.

“Do you want to get a drink of water?” Rei whispered.

Nagisa shook his head. “I’ll be okay.”

“Will you at least put the socks on?”

Nagisa turned over and met his gaze, purple to pink. He used his feet to pull the blanket up from the end of the bed, which had been completely strewn from their tussling. “Can we just cuddle under the covers and call it a day?”

Rei blinked, thinking for a moment, then he smiled. He leaned over and kissed the blonde’s forehead. “I think that sounds just fine.”

**Author's Note:**

> i've been so thirsty for reigisa fluff lately so here you go kjhsdfkjshdjkfhdjkh
> 
> **qotf: who was your first crush?**
> 
> another reminder that i'm considering posting some old star trek fics on here that i've never shared before, lmk if you're interested in seeing them ;w;
> 
> [my tumblr](https://noahsenpai.tumblr.com)   
>  [my anime blog](https://juntas-dimples.tumblr.com)


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